In most jurisdictions it is the duty of the dog's walker (hereinafter referred to as “the walker”) to clean up his/her dog's fecal waste (hereinafter referred to as “the waste”) after his/her dog eliminates in public areas. The chore is universally regarded as totally disgusting and highly undignified. This invention relates to a new, specific, plastic waste-collection device which, along with a new, specific, disposable bag combines to form a unique disposal system designed specifically for the simple, quick, non-mechanical, user-friendly affixing and removal of said bag to said device for the easy and sanitary collection and environmentally-responsible disposal of the waste.
For decades inventors have been developing devices in attempts to make the chore less of an embarrassing burden with the hopes that more and more people will embrace their civic duty. A number of inventions in the Prior Art have produced a variety of designs, respectively, which feature some sort of non-specific, waste-collection bag attached in some fashion to a frame which in turn is attached to a handle. While some of the Prior Art may theoretically “work”, the respective devices all have at least one or more drawbacks in that they are: not hygienic, not user-friendly, awkward, cumbersome, too large or too heavy to carry, or too expensive to manufacture and market. None of the Prior Art has produced a simple, lightweight, compact, easy to carry, user-friendly, hygienic device which is feasible, cost-effective to manufacture and therefore affordable for the consumer to purchase.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,453 to Dietch and U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,831 to Cassidy are the original, related dog waste-collection devices from which the devices which are discussed below have followed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,067 to Travis discloses a device in which the waste-collection bag must be mechanically attached to and detached from the device by utilization of a clamp. This arrangement is not user-friendly for bag installation and removal. Further, the design does not provide for the hygienic protection of the device during elimination. Additionally, the Travis device does not fold up, is not easy to carry and its design does not provide for the user-friendly presentation of the device to an eliminating dog.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,260 to Carrington discloses a device in which the waste-collection bag is attached to the device by an elastic fitting that must be adjusted and maneuvered for both installation and removal thus making bag installation and removal a chore in itself. The Carrington design is not hygienic in that it offers the walker the option of picking up waste by scraping its steel band against the waste. The Carrington device neither telescopes nor folds up making carry difficult and long walks tiring.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,335,678 to Garza discloses a device which requires a combination of manual and mechanical parts to thread and unthread a drawstring of a waste-collection bag to attach and detach the bag in a most non-user-friendly manner. This is a very heavy device that neither telescopes nor folds up and is thus difficult to carry. This is a complicated machine that theoretically might work but not a tool which the average walker would want to use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,914 to Ines discloses a device in which the waste-collection bag is attached to the device by a built-in elastic cord which must be hand-stuffed into and all the way around the continuous groove of the device's frame to hold the bag on. The process is reversed for the bag removal. Bag attachment and detachment is not user-friendly. The device is not hygienic in that its circular frame is exposed and vulnerable to waste contamination while a dog eliminates. Furthermore, the longitudinal ribs of the device's telescoping handle lend to the collection and harboring of all manner of particulate and bacteria in between the ribs and their corresponding grooves. This design makes the device prone to potential operating difficulty and provides a place for bacteria to grow.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,411 to Kwok discloses a device which is highly mechanical in the nature in which a waste-collection bag is attached to its frame and then released in a time-consuming and non-user-friendly process which involves the use of a clamp. The design is characterized by a multitude of movable parts. The design of the device's wide leading edge makes it difficult for the walker to position the device under an eliminating dog without the device coming into contact with one or both of the dog's hind legs. The grooves in the device's handle are susceptible to the collection of particulate and bacteria. This device is heavy, cumbersome and not easy to carry.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,129 to Jensen discloses a material-intensive and parts-intensive, complicated, heavy device which does not fold and which includes an assortment of machined parts which are expensive to manufacture and which in turn makes the device expensive for the consumer to purchase. While Jensen writes variously “[a]bag 18 is carried on the bag holder . . . ”, “[t]he bag 18 can be removed from the bag holder . . . ” and “[t]he bag holder 14 is a flat annular continuous band 40, to receive the bag 18” he never teaches the reader/user how the bag is attached to and/or maintained onto the flat annular band and detached after use. It is complex, not user-friendly and not easy to carry.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,452 to Marymor, et al., which appears could be somewhat lightweight and cost-effective to manufacture, is not user-friendly in that the Marymor device, which is roughly 31″ long by 9″ wide by 12″ deep, is not compactable and is difficult to carry. Furthermore, the walker must attach the waste-collection bag to the Marymor device by means of first inserting one side of the bag into a notch on the device and then drawing the bag across the device's frame before tying the bag's handles in a circuitous figure eight knot around both the device's handle and its peg—a daunting task for many potential walkers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,046 to Gemeniamo discloses another complex device in which a waste-collection bag is, in an around about way, attached to said device by following a 15-step set of instructions dealing with an assortment of parts which include a pair of arms, a pair of legs, a pair of prongs, a pair of eyehooks, all so that a walker can still employ a shovel to scrape dog waste into the bag of said device. One can assume that detaching the bag requires the convoluted process of bag attachment to be reversed. Although the device employs a plastic bag it does not attempt to claim the dog's waste is put into the plastic bag until after the waste has already made contact with the ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,149,214 to Kipka discloses a device in which its waste-collection bag is attached by opening two concentric rings, placing the bag between the rings, and then capturing the bag between the two rings by closing them. The device lacks a means to conveniently separate the two rings in order to detach the bag. Because of the design, the Kipka device is not hygienic in that there is no means to protect the top ring of the device from waste contamination and the walker is exposed to waste when separating the two rings so as to detach the bag. Additionally, the design provides for a very awkward angle of user presentation of the device to a dog. The device does not completely fold up, is not lightweight and is not easy to carry. The upper handle is not amenable to hand-gripping.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,395 to Bauklon discloses a dog excrement container which utilizes a receptacle bowl and a covering plate. The device requires that the walker remove the covering plate by way of a mechanical lever so as to allow the dog to eliminate into a bag. The device by necessity is heavy, not easy to carry, and not user-friendly, although it appears to be hygienic.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,710 to Shibuya discloses a dog waste receptacle device which, from outside to inside is totally vulnerable to waste contamination in that a waste-collection bag is merely placed loose inside the device and not fitted to the device in a manner to prevent waste contamination. The Shibuya device is awkward, cumbersome, heavy and just not practical for a walker to use in that it is more a stationary machine than a portable tool which would be very expensive to produce and purchase.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,605 to Kaplan discloses a canine waste-collection device and disposal method that employs a paper towel or other paper product to collect waste. This device and method has obvious disadvantages for dealing with a dog with loose stools. Beyond that, the attachment and detachment of the paper towel is a time-consuming and laborious operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,349 to Clements discloses a device which is essentially a waste-collection bag on a stick but Clements does not teach or claim how the bag is either attached to or detached from the device. The angle at which the device is presented by the walker to the dog is almost perpendicular to the ground and not at all convenient for either walker or dog. The Clements' device does not telescope or fold up, is not easy to carry and is not hygienic in that there is no provision taught or claimed to protect the device from the waste of an eliminating dog.
The instant invention is distinguished from U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,953 to Lachance in that Lachance shows a bag “having a hem at its top edge extending along the greater part of the length of said top edge and opened at both its ends” whereas the instant invention has a diecut hole through the top of the bag. In Lachance the user must feed the frame through the length of the hem. The same feeding process is reversed to remove the Lachance bag. In the instant invention the hole in the bag is dropped over the device's handle. Removal of the bag in the instant invention requires a downward pull on the bag. The instant invention utilizes a bag that is much easier to manufacture and much easier to install and remove.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,678 to Bailey discloses a dog defecate collection device which requires that a part of the device itself, specifically the shape retaining member which supports the bag, be disposed of after each use. This requirement is both costly and time consuming. The spring and latch in Bailey is subject to malfunction which would render the device useless. The instant invention utilizes no shape retaining member which is disposable and no spring or latch which could malfunction.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,942,264 to Mendez discloses a dog defecate collection device which claims a bag with a tie string and elastic material which must be attached to the device by fitting the elastic material portion of the bag along a recess between an upper and lower flange lip. No claim is made regarding how to separate these upper and lower flange lips to remove said bag from the device. The user must come in contact with these flanges to separate them. Handling these flanges exposes the user to risk of contamination by fecal matter. Further, this device is susceptible to malfunction of the necessary tension spring which joins the first and second flanges together and said malfunction could thus render the device useless. The instant device stays clean because the entire hoop is covered by a bag, requires nothing to clamp over the bag to keep the bag in position for use, the bag tears off the device with a simple downward pull and no malfunction would occur during normal use which would render the device useless.
Finally, by virtue of their designs and the manipulations required to separate the waste-collection bags from their respective devices, the walker's face will naturally be drawn somewhat close to dog waste for bag removal in the Prior Art of: U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,067/Travis, U.S. Pat. No. 4,146,260/Carrington, U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,914/Ines, U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,129/Jensen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,452/Marymor, U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,605/Kaplan, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,349/Clements.
Although the cited examples of the Prior Art may or may not “do the trick” in terms of attaching and detaching their respective waste-collection bags or paper product(s) to and from their respective devices, as will be fully disclosed the present invention provides a system for the simple, quick, non-mechanical, user-friendly affixing and removal of its own, specific, disposable waste-collection bag to a new, specific, plastic waste-collection device in a system that protects both the device and walker from waste contamination and is environmentally-responsible.
Embodiments of the Prior Art, when compared to the present invention, are, without exception, larger, heavier, more difficult to carry and not as user-friendly. Furthermore, for one reason or another, embodiments of the Prior Art when compared to the present invention are not as feasible, are more expensive to manufacture and therefore more expensive for the consumer to purchase.